Open Labs are trying to convince the world that their PC-in-a-big-box Neko keyboards are sturdy enough to take on tour. So, at their NAMM party, they encouraged DJ Richard Devine to set one on fire and beat it with a baseball bat. And it survived long enough to end the set. If you've got $5,000 to burn (yuk yuk) you could do the same! (I was sent this story by someone called Surplus4Less2003 who seems to sell AMD processors on eBay. Would be funny if he worked for Open Labs, wouldn't it?)Full story (with video).

I love math but I don't want to listen to it. If only someone would take a flaming bat to the guy's CDs. I was at the show - if you could call it that. Sad that Open Labs has resorted to this kind of publicity stunt. Hardly surprising when you consider they are manufacturing a product no one wants at a price no one can afford.

Hey, i've met Richard and he's a cool dude man. I can't listen to his music either, but still, he's got some rad gear man! He turned me on to the Eventides and played a show here recently with all DevilFish gear or something.

A PC is just a PC. When it becomes obsolete, you can either sell it, send it to the scrapyard and then buy a new one.

When you plop 5 grand on a machine that has internals that will become obsolete in a matter of months, retiring it is not so simple...

I like to keep my controllers separate.

As for Richard D. I keep hearing negative things about the guy, but I like some of his music and I like his label. Until I get to know him personally and form my own opinion, I'll just leave it at that.

The artistic merit of Richard Devine's works aside, the very idea of setting the plastic casing of a keyboard on fire and striking it with a baseball bat as if to offer some practical proving of the machine design's heat and mechanical shock tolerances is absurd beyond belief.

Open Labs, I could set my PC on fire, beat it around for a while and still make the thing boot too.

Three cheers for pissing off a whole bunch of musicians and music fans in an idiotic, juvenile stunt that would be more at home on the football field than on stage.

wwhatever you think of R D the copy clearly states the company invited him to do it. what's the point of slagging him, his music or anything? sure it was a publicity stunt. he just happened to be the musician invited